Virgin Media O2 launches UK’s first 2Gbps residential broadband 

Virgin Media O2 has become the first major UK broadband provider to launch a residential 2Gbps service, dubbed Gig2, and introduce symmetrical download and upload speeds across all speed tiers as an optional add-on for customers.

The new blisteringly fast Gig2 broadband service, which offers speeds more than 28 times faster than the UK average, is enabled by XGS-PON full-fibre technology and builds on Virgin Media's existing 1Gbps Gig1 service.

Gig2 will be available...

7 February 2024 | Broadband

Connected Nations: UK full-fibre broadband reaches 17M homes

A record-breaking 17 million UK homes now have access to full-fibre broadband, according to Ofcom's latest Connected Nations report released today.

The report highlights the advantages of full-fibre broadband, emphasising its increased reliability and resilience compared to traditional copper-based networks. 4.6 million households have already made the switch.

Analysis indicates that providers experience fewer faults on their fibre networks, contributing to a smoother...

19 December 2023 | Broadband

Over 330K premises benefit from UK connectivity fund in 2023

The UK has invested over half a billion pounds this year to boost connectivity for more than 330,000 premises. The announcement comes alongside a £33 million investment to connect more than 17,000 homes and businesses in rural Derbyshire to high-speed broadband.

This announcement for Derbyshire follows earlier contracts awarded in Shropshire, Cambridgeshire, New Forest, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampshire, North East Staffordshire, and Oxfordshire—bringing total investment to over...

15 December 2023 | Broadband

In the fast lane: Analysing the UK’s leading broadband players

Opensignal has conducted an in-depth analysis of the real-world fixed broadband experience across the UK. The study provides a national overview as well as detailed insights into five major cities: Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, and Manchester.

National broadband landscape

The UK's fixed broadband market is witnessing rapid evolution, with national telecoms regulator Ofcom's analysis pointing to a potential surge in full fibre (FTTP) coverage from 15.4 million properties...

6 December 2023 | Broadband

CityFibre awards contracts for its Project Gigabit rollouts

CityFibre has awarded its first round of contracts to build partners as part of Project Gigabit.

Project Gigabit is the government’s £5 billion programme to connect 715,000 rural properties, ensuring they have access to high-speed broadband services.

CityFibre has appointed the following as its build partners:

Granemore Group in Cambridgeshire OCU Group and CCN Communications in Hampshire OCU Group in Norfolk Telelink, OCU Group, and Granemore Group...

22 September 2023 | Broadband

Australia’s NBN secures further $1.5B for its full-fibre rollout

The Australian government has announced a further $1.5 billion (AUS$2.4 billion) for the NBN to support its full-fibre rollout.

NBN (National Broadband Network) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network that is operated by the NBN Co.

The state-owned NBN Co was established in 2009 and had connected 6.7 million homes and businesses as of February 2020. However, Australia’s largest infrastructure project has been widely perceived as failing to offer...

21 October 2022 | Broadband

Vodafone is now the UK’s largest full-fibre provider

Vodafone has become the UK’s largest provider of full-fibre broadband.

Full-fibre is up to 25 times faster than copper broadband and five times more reliable. Vodafone’s full-fibre services are now available to over eight million homes—more than TalkTalk, Sky, BT, and Virgin Media.

Broadband provider (consumer sales)Number of premises Full Fibre (FTTP or FTTH) is available atVodafone8,007,839TalkTalk7,918,492Sky7,361,859BT7,267,221Virgin Media1,104,862

Max...

13 June 2022 | Broadband

CityFibre’s full-fibre to deliver over £40B of direct economic benefits

New research suggests that economic benefits worth over £40 billion will be reaped by CityFibre’s full-fibre rollout.

The research – conducted by consultancy firm Hatch – covers a 15-year period and examines the rollout across 285 cities, towns, and villages in England and Scotland.

Boosts to productivity and innovation account for £22 billion of the economic benefits; with poor connectivity no longer posing a barrier.

As more people transition to...

26 April 2022 | Broadband

CityFibre attracts over £1.4B in ‘largest-ever’ raise for UK full-fibre

CityFibre has attracted over £1.4 billion in the “largest-ever capital raise” for a UK full-fibre deployment.

The milestone was reached following a further equity commitment of £300m from its existing shareholder, Mubadala Investment Company.

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre, said:

“Mubadala’s confidence in our business is testament to our growing momentum and progress.

The need and appetite for carrier-neutral wholesale network...

21 March 2022 | Broadband

Over 90% of Virgin Media O2’s network is now gigabit-ready

Virgin Media O2’s network is now over 90 percent gigabit-ready, putting the ISP on track to upgrade its entire footprint by year-end.

The provider’s latest switch-on connected a further 1.6 million homes in towns and cities including Lincoln, Bath, Lancaster, Fife, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Slough, and Salisbury.

14.3 million premises are now able to access the gigabit network’s average download speeds of 1,130Mbps.

Lutz Schüler, Chief Executive Officer at...

9 November 2021 | Broadband